US President Joe Biden said yesterday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not doing enough to secure a deal for the release of hostages held in Gaza and the US was close to presenting a final proposal to negotiators working on a ceasefire agreement.
Biden when asked whether he thought Netanyahu was doing enough to reach a hostage deal with Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, Biden said “No”. He did not elaborate.
Asked if he was planning to present a final hostage deal to both sides this week, Biden said: “We’re very close to that.”
“Hope springs eternal,” he added when asked whether a deal would be successful.
Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris also met with the US hostage negotiation team, during which the president expressed “devastation and outrage” at the hostages’ murders, and they discussed the next steps in efforts to free the remaining captives, the White House said.
Biden’s fresh criticism of Netanyahu comes as he and Harris, who has replaced the president at the top of the Democratic ticket for the Nov 5 election, face increased calls for decisive action to end the nearly 11-month-old war in Gaza.
The conflict has sown divisions among Democrats, with many progressives pressing Biden to restrict or at least place conditions on US weapon supplies to Israel.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Biden’s criticism of Netanyahu was “American recognition that Netanyahu was responsible for undermining efforts to reach a deal.”
